The Boston Red Sox put together quite the offseason, trading for Garrett Crochet and signing Alex Bregman to a landmark three-year, $120 million contract. That places Bregman among the highest-paid players in baseball — and it puts the Red Sox on a path to bonafide contention.
There are a few questions left to answer, such as "which position does Bregman play?" and"how does Raffy Devers feel about that?" But even so, the Red Sox should get plenty out of Bregman, whose offensive profile aligns beautifully with Fenway Park. He is the right-handed slugger this Boston lineup desperately lacked in 2024.
Before Craig Breslow was able to land the plane, however, there was a real belief that Bregman might reunite with former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch, who led the Detroit Tigers to an impressive ALDS berth last season. Hinch and Bregman won a World Series together once upon a time, and Detroit's key pieces worked hard to recruit the All-Star third baseman to Motown.
It did not work out. The Tigers lined up a compelling six-year, $171.5 million offer, but it was not enough to satisfy Bregman. Boston gave the 30-year-old $40 million annually and two opt-outs; Detroit's offer would've paid Bregman a mere $28.6 million annually. We can wonder if Bregman might regret passing on the long-term security of Detroit's offer, but his goal with Boston is fairly clear: go produce in a hitter-friendly ballpark, opt out, and get that major long-term payday a year or two from now.
Detroit did have a chance to pull ahead late in the bidding process, however, but Scott Harris was not willing to take that final step toward securing a deal with the talented corner infielder.
Tigers were $2 million short of landing Alex Bregman over Red Sox
FanSided's Robert Murray hosted New York Post scribe Jon Heyman on the latest episode of The Baseball Insiders. Heyman notes that Chicago was never particularly close to signing Bregman, but that Detroit "came pretty close."
"Bregman did make a counteroffer to the Tigers," Heyman said. "I think it was $2 million a year more. If they had gone to, let's say, $183 million instead of $171 million, he would've gone there."
That sounds like a fairly lame misstep for the Tigers front office. You're a small-market team coming off your first postseason berth in a decade. The fan base hasn't felt this level of optimism in almost a generation. To miss out on a marquee free agent with direct ties to your manager over $12 million (spread across six years) feels like an implicit reminder that Detroit will never earnestly play with the big kids in free agency.
Harris had a lot to say after Bregman spurned Detroit for Boston, but right now, it's the Tigers GM who comes out of this with bad optics. Detroit needed an everyday staple to anchor the middle of the lineup. Hinch might be the best manager in baseball when it comes to manipulating matchups and taking the nontraditional route to offensive success — so. many. pinch. hitters. — but the best teams tend to have some star-power in the lineup. Bregman could've been that traditional heavy hitter for the Tigers.
It's understandable from Bregman's perspective. If $2 million annually is the breaking point, then it starts to feel like you're not really wanted. The Tigers' ballpark is also significantly less kind to hitters in Bregman's vein, so he should produce more consistently with the Red Sox. Whether that turns into a new contract and more overall income than the $171.5 million he could've received in Detroit, however, remains to be seen.